Automatic electrically-controlled railway-train-stopping system.



J. W; WILLIAMS. AUTOMATIC ELECTRICALLY CONTROLLED RAILWAY TRAIN STOPPING SYSTEM.v

APPLICATION FILED JUNE I2, 1914-; RENEWED DEC- ll, I9I 6. 1,2315%,

Patented Aug. 21, 1917.

Even Z401 (Zines Z; Zflz'ZZiama Zaz'a@ e156 ezs comprising means pnrrnn s ra'rns rarnnr ormon. I

JAMES W. WILLIAMS, OF I-IILLYARD, WASHINGTON, ASSIGrNOZR. TO-NATIONAL AUTO- MATIC TRAIN STOP COMPANY, OF I-IILLYARD, WASHINGTON, A CORPORATION OF WASHINGTON.

AUTOMATIC 'ELECTBICALLY-CONTROLLED ltAILwAY-TRAlN sToPPING SYSTEM.

Application filed June 12, 1914, Serial No. 844,704.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES WV. WILLIAMS, of Hillyard, in the county of Spokane and State of lVashington, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Automatic Electrically-Controlled Railway- Train-Stopping Systems, of which the following is a specification.

The automatic electrically-controlled railway train stopping system in which my invention is embodied is one in which the locomotive carries a relay or other like electric controlling device, which'is called into action only when the train is entering a block under abnormal or dangerous con ditions and which when thus-brought into action brings into operation mechanism for shutting off steam and for operating the air. brakes whereby the train will be stopped automatically and independent of the engineers action. prefer to so adjust said'mechanism' that the stoppage of the train may be-efiected gradually, and not suddenly; and I also prefer to make provision whereby the train stopping mechanism will be called into action only when the speed of the train exceeds a certain limit, there being provided, in addition to said mechanism, means, such as a bell, which, when dangerous conditions obtain in the block entered by the train, will sound from the time the train enters the block, thus giving the engineer ample warning of impending danger ahead.

To enable those skilled in the art to understand and use my invention, I will now proceed to describe the manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect in connection with the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of my invention as applied to a locomotive; and Fig.2 is a like view of a modification. I

T T are the trackrails. The track'is supposed to be divided into insulated blocks as customary, and at or near the entrance to each block will be a pairofstop rails w, about fifteen feet long and about one inch higher than the track rails, said stop rails being in this instance located opposite to one another, one on each side of the: right hand track rail, parallel with said track rail and with one another, and adapted to be Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented A11 21,1917.

Renewed December 11, 1916. Serial No. 136,372.

electrically connected when the block which the train is approaching or about to enter is already occupied by a train.

Upon the forward part of the locomotive are carried contact shoes s, 8, adapted to make electrical contact with the .stop'rails as and y as the locomotive passes them. When there is a train ahead in the block to which said stop rails pertain, the contact between them and the shoes 8, 8, completes an electrical circuit through-a relay on the locomotive whereby the bell or other danger ,signal mechanism and the train.

stopping mechanism is brought into operation, as customary in systems of this general ki'nd,and as illustrated for example in my two pending applications, Ser. No. 825,639 and-Ser. No. 825,640 filed March 18, 191 1. In some electric signal systems the stop rails w and fl] are merely electrically connected, as in 1 my application 825-,6 l0, and in others they are alive when there is a train ahead on the block to which they pertain, as in my application Ser. No. 825,639. In order that the engine-carried apparatus of my invention may conveniently, and without change, be adapted for operation on roads using either system,-a switch F is, ginewith circuit connections as shown. When the train is running on a road where the stop rails w, y, are, under certain conditions, aliveas they are supposed to. be in the. present instancehe switch is thrown to F position (shown in full lines in the drawing) when on aroad where w and 1/ are merely electrically connected, the switch is thrown toF position (shown in dotted lines inthe drawings). In either case, whenever there is a train ahead on the block about to be entered by the locomotive, the effect of the shoes '8, s, on the locomotive, coming into electrical contact with the stop rails m, y, will'be, as well understood, to energize the relay magnet M, its core at attracting armature m/ which is suitably attached to latch lever 11,. the movement of lever 1, against the stress, of its spring m toward the magnet M permitting the free end of. a pivoted lever 2 to drop, thus bringing insulated contact piece a on the free end of lever 2 into electrical contact with the stationary. contacts (Z and 6, thereby Ser. No.

or may be, provided on the enbringing the engine-carried battery B- in g stopping mechanism, without further vention is comprised.

A is a speed indicator of any usual or desired type, with a pointer or hand a for indicating, the speed of the locomotive. Attached to the face of the indicator A, under the pointer a, .are bare wires or other suitable electrical conductors a, a a arranged concentrically with the axis of the indicator hand, and adapted to be electrically connected by the pointer a, or-a suitable contact piece or shoe secured to the under side thereof. Wires a and a extend around the face of the indicator A in position to be in contact with the pointer a in any position from zero to its highest indicated speed. Wire extends from the highest indicated speed to .a point of comparatively safe speed, in this instance to 25, which indicates a speed of 25 miles per hour. These wires a, a a are suitably connected to the other devices of the apparatus by electrical wires as shown.

Thus when contacts and e are electrically connected, the pointer a, at any speed, by

reason of making connection between wires 04 and a will cause the bell O to ring, calling the engineers attention to impending danger ahead, the circuit for this purpose being from one pole of battery B to .and through contacts (Z, c, e, to wire a, through pointer a to wire a to and through bell C back to the other pole of the battery; and the ringing of bell G will continue until the engineer resets levers 1 and 2 to their original position, thus breaking the electrical cirsuit to the bell. If the pointer indicates a speed of less than 25 miles per hour, the two wires a and a only are connected by the hand a, and thus the bell only is rung; but if the indicated speed be 25 miles or more per hour, then the wire a being also connected through the pointer a, when the latter is in this position, with wire a, the electro-magnet N will also be energized by the battery B, the circuit for this purpose being from one pole of battery B through contacts d, 0, e to wire a through pointer 0; to wires a and a the circuit here dividing, part going through wire a to the bell C and thence back to the battery B, and part going through wire a to the electro-magnet N and thence back to battery B. The core n of energized magnet N will attract its arma ture n which is suitably secured to pivoted detent lever 3 provided with a detent 4C. This action releases lug 5 on the spring motor D, allowing it to revolve in the direction of the arrow. 7

Attached to spring motor D by means of a pivot 6 is a bar 7, which in turn is pivotally secured to lever 8 of the steam valve V and lever 9 of the air brake auxiliary valve V. The effect of the motor D revolving in the direction of the arrow is to shut 0E the steam to the locomotive cylinders by closing In the mechanism thus far described it will be noted that thealarm bell and speed ometer are inan electric circuit, which I term the working circuit, separate from that of the engine relay, which working circuit is completed through two sets of contacts controlled, the one by the engine relay, and the other by the speedometer, and includes an electro-magnet N through the instrumentality of which, when the working circuit is completed through the said two sets of contacts, the train stopping mechanism will be called into action, the circuit arrangements permitted by this combination of elements being such that, when only the set of contacts controlled by the engine relay is closed, the alarm bell alone will be called into action, to the exclusion of the trainstopping controlling magnet N.

The train pipe 19 is the usual service pipe in air brake systems which extends from the engineers air brake valve P in the engine cab, to the rear end of the train. Interposed in the train pipe is a valve chamber 10 having two ports 11 and 12, controlled by a valve 13 normally upheld to close the upper port 11 by a spring 14 surrounding a valve stem 15 passing througha guide 16 in the valve chamber, and provided at. its upper 9 end with a piston 17. The lower andnormally open port 12 is the passage through which the train pipe leads to the engineers air brake valve P. The valve 13, when depressed against the stress of its spring 14, will close the port 12, and at the same time open the upper port 11, through which communication from the train pipe will be established with a branch 7? discharging into atmosphere, its vent 10 being controlled 15 I by an automatic relief valve E adjustable to open at any desired pressure.

The valve V hereinbefore mentioned is in a by-pass 39 leading from a point on the train pipe 10 and the engineers brake valve P, into the top of the valve chamber 10, above the piston 17 therein, and it normally closes the by-pass 39 against the passage of air therethrough from the tram pipe 1). When however, the valve V is automatically operated as hereinbefore indicated, it will throw open the bypass 39 so that air under pres sure from the train pipe can pass there: through into the top between the valve chamber 120 of the valve chamber 10, above the piston 17, thus forcing said piston and consequently its valve 13, down against the stress of spring 1 1, and consequently closing the port 12 leading to the engineers brake valve P, and opening the port 11 leading to the vent branch 10 from tlie'train pipe.

It is usual for the train pipe to carry a normal running pressure of about 7 0 lbs, and the eflect of reducing this pressure by letting the compressed air in the train pipe escape to atmosphere, is to apply the brakes. If too much air be let off at once, the result will be an emergency stop; also a long heavy train will require tobe stopped more 7 gradually than a shorter lighter train, in order to keep the cars from piling up and smashing their equipment.

In order to apply the brakes in amanner suitable to the conditions under which the locomotive may be working, and also to avoid emergency stops and the attendant difficulties, the amount of air let out of the train pipe should not reduce the pressure more than 20 lbs, and in some cases not more than 15 lbs., or even less. It-is for this purpose that the vent end 29 of the branch 1) iscontrolled by an automatically operating spring, or equivalently, closed relief valve E of any approved pattern, adjustable to open at any desired pressure. The air let out of the train pipe through the branch 1? must pass through this relief valve E before escaping to atmosphere. Thus, by setting the spring of relief valve E to 50 lbs. pressure, the air pressure in the train pipe lbs.) will not be reduced more than 20 lbs; by setting the spring at 55 lbs, the train pipe pressure-will be-reduced only 15 lbs; and the train is brought to a stop, independent of the locomotive en gineers action, in a safe and usual manner,

that is, like what is known as a service stop.

An automatic adjustable relief valve of this character is well known in the arts and requires no detailed explanation. 'It can be set to reduce the pressure in the train pipe any desired amount for stopping purposes; and is adjustable to the varying conditions of its use in connection with light or heavy trains.

In Fig. 1 the relay magnet M is in a normally open circuit. It may, of course, be in a normally closed circuit as well, as indicated in Fig. 2, which illustrates one of a number of ways in which this may be effected, the relay magnet as there shown being in a normally closed circuit including an independent battery B, with shunt connections from opposite poles of the battery to the contact shoes 8, s. The tooth of the latch lever 1 faces in the opposite direction from that in Fig. 1, and engages the contact lever 2 when the latch is attracted by magnet'M, against the stress of its spring m in which position it is shown in Fig. 2, thus holding open the contacts 0, (Z, c in the circuitincluding the speed indicator A, bell C and magnet N. lVhen the shoes 8, 8, meet the stop rails 00, y, obviously the .battery B will be short circuited, and the magnet M consequently deenergized, permitting the latch lever to be moved by its spring m in a direction to disengage it from the contact lever 2, and to allow the latter to drop and close the contacts 0, d, 0.

It will be noted that the herein described apparatus is entirely automatic in its action of warning the engineer of impending danger ahead, and of stopping the train if the speed be too excessive for cautious progress when dangerous conditions prevail. Though the train be going at a very slow rate of speed when it passes over the stop rails w, 3 the'magnet M will be energized; the bell C will ring, and until the levers 1 and 2 are reset, and if the trains speed should be increased above the predetermined safe speed (here shown as 25 miles per hour), even after passing the stop rails 50, y, then-nevertheless the magnet N will be energized with the consequent shutting off of the steam to the cylinders of the locomotive and the applying of the air brakes, and the train is thus brought to a stop.

The various parts of the apparatus above described may, of course, be located on the locomotive, whether in or outside of the engineers cab, in any convenient or desired positions.

Means for manually effecting an emergency stop after the valve 10 has been automatically operated, as above described, to give a service stop, cutting off at the same time the engineers brake valve from the train pipe, can be associated with the automatic stop mechanism of my invention in various ways, as well understood by those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains.

One such means is illustrated in Fig. 1, consisting of an air pipe 9 connected with an opening in the lower part of the piston chamber of valve 10 and leading to an ordinary hand operated release valve Q, located within easy reach of the engineer.

When the service stop is being effected by gradual escape of the train pipe pressure through the automatic relief valve E, the engineer, by merely opening the hand operated release valve Q, lets the train pipe pressure reduce suddenly and thereby effects the desired emergency stop.

Having described my invention and the best way known to me of carrying the same into practical effect, I state in conclusion that I do not limit myself to the electrical and structural details herein shown anddewill not stop ringing circuit a set of normally open contacts in said, v

branch; a speedometer provided with means whereby said contacts in the train-stopping branch are closed only when the speed of the train exceeds a predetermined limit; a train-stopping mechanism comprising the train pipe p and engineers brake valve P of the usual air brake system a branch 20 from the train pipe independent of the engineers brake valve; a valve chamber 10 interposed between the train pipe and branch pipe 39, having two ports 11 and 12, through which the train pipe communicates with the branch pipe p and engineers brake valve respectively; a valve 13 which normally closes the branch port 11 and opens the air brake valve port 12; a by-pass p from the train pipe to the valve chamber 10; instrumentalities in the-valve chamber adapted to be operated on by the air pressure from said by-pass to actuate the valve 13, to open port 11 and close port 12; a normally closed valve V in said by-pass; a motor D controlled by the electro-magnet N; connections between said motor and valve V whereby the motor,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the when released from'control of electro-magnet N, opens'valve V; and an automatic reducing or relief valve on branch 37 adjustable to open at any predetermined pressure, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

2. In an automatic electrically-controlled railway train-stopping system, the combination with the train pipe and engineers air brake valve of the usual air brake system, of a branch from the train pipe independent of the engineers air brake valve; two valve ports through which the train pipe communicates with said branch and engineers air brake valve respectively; a valve for convalve, and a manually operable valve for controlling said discharging means substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I affiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES w. waLLIAMs.

WVitnesses Y W. BoEHME, S. F. JONES.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

